The present patent application claims the benefit of earlier Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-066542 filed Mar. 10, 2000, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector sealing structure for coupling and sealing a female connector and a male connector. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved connector sealing structure that can effectively prevent leak between adjacent terminal plugs of the connector, and at the same time, shut out water drops from reaching the terminal plugs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a pair of connectors is used to couple electric circuits. Multiple terminal plugs or pins are accommodated in the individual terminal chambers of a connector, which are fit into terminal jacks of a counterpart connector Since leak or short circuit between adjacent terminal plugs has to be precluded from this type of connector, many proposals have been made to prevent leakage of the connectors. An example of the structure for preventing leakage is illustrated in FIG. 1. The connector housing 102 of a connector is furnished with a partition 103 to separate the inner space of the connector housing 102 into terminal chambers. The partition 103 also functions as preventing leak between adjacent terminal plugs (not shown).
Similarly, structures for preventing droplets or dewdrops from entering the terminal chambers of a connector housing have also been proposed. An example of such structures is illustrated in FIG. 2. The entirety of the terminal chambers 105 is surrounded by, for example, rubber packing 106 inside the connector housing 104. If the counterpart connector is fit into the connector housing 104, the packing sticks to the contact surface of the counterpart connector, thereby preventing undesirable droplets from entering the terminal chambers.
However, the leak-prevention connector illustrated in FIG. 1 becomes inevitably large because of the partition 103 provided inside the connector housing 102. The water shutout connector illustrated in FIG. 2 also becomes inevitably large because the rubber packing 106 is wound around the outer face of the terminal chambers 105 inside the connector housing 104. These structures are against the trend toward and necessity for compactness of connectors.
Therefore, it is one of the objectives of this invention to provide a compact and reliable connector sealing structure that can prevent leakage between adjacent terminal plugs and, at the same time, prevent water droplets from entering into the terminal chambers.
To achieve this object, a connector sealing structure according to the invention comprises a first connector, a second connector that fits into the first connector, and a sealing pad inserted between the first and second connectors. The first connector has a first connector housing formed into a socket, and one or more terminal plugs. Each terminal plug has a pin projecting from the base of the socket toward the opening of the socket. The second connector has a second connector housing with a leading face, and one or more terminal jacks inside the connector housing. Each of the terminal jacks receives one of the terminal pins. The sealing pad is positioned between the leading face of the second connector and the bottom of the socket of the first connector. The sealing pad has one or more holes for receiving the pins, the holes comes into tight contact with the pins when the second connector is fit into the socket and pushed against the sealing pad.
This structure does not require partitions inside the connector housing or rubber packing wound around the terminal chambers. Accordingly, a compact and reliable connector sealing structure is realized.
The sealing pad is positioned directly on the bottom of the socket, or alternatively, it is positioned just above the bottom of the socket so that a gap is formed between the sealing pad and the bottom of the socket.
Preferably, the sealing pad has holes for receiving the pins, and elastic banks around the holes. The elastic banks are tapered down toward the holes. In this case, the pin of the terminal plug is inserted into the hole of the sealing pad, so that the tip of the pin is positioned lower than the top of the bank. This arrangement can trap water droplets inside the bank, and prevent the water droplets from flowing to the adjacent terminal plugs. Consequently, undesirable leakage or short circuit between adjacent terminal plugs is prevented.
Preferably, the sealing pad is consists of a substrate made of a resin with the bank made of an elastic material. This arrangement guarantees the mechanical strength of the sealing pad, while achieving a reliable sealing ability.
The sealing pad has a flange along the periphery and the flange is in tight contact with the inner wall of the socket of the first connector. This arrangement can shut out water droplets from entering the gap between the first and second connectors.